A weekend then the second panel

Another weekend has flown past and we are now less than two weeks until Christmas! Crazy how fast time is flying now.

Lovely autumn/winter morning

Big bumps that needed sorting out

Rosie puts a stone into the wheelbarrow

Weeded and de-stoned; lots more to do though

Rosie sits on top of the big pile of sand

Our little sandcastle that we made together

The train comes into sight

The weekend was a pretty good one all told but had its moments as you'll see. I was woken about 4am by Xena being sick and then later on she started throwing up blood. Once the vet was in his office I dashed her over to get checked out and he gave her some injections and special food and said she had a stomach bug. Fortunately she got better steadily through the day and was fully back to normal by Sunday. When I got back it was time to go outside with Rosie to get some chores done. I raked over the huge bumps in the drive by the front gate and then, with Rosie's help, started to clear stones and brambles from the burned section next to the gate. We worked really hard and I was pretty exhausted by the time we stopped. We then had fun with the big sand pile and also made a small sandcastle next to the sand and stone pile. It was a good day outside and great to get lots of progress done. At the end of the day we spent some time in the lounge and set the train running around the tree which is always good.

Angela re-covered this in the night

Play time in the lounge

Rosie feeds the birds

Angela clearing out the Glass room

Plants on the windowsills, Rosie and the pups look on

Christmas stickers onto the windows

The lounge looking lovely and Christmassy

Rosie with her sparkler

I did not get much sleep, unfortunately, as a storm blew in with really strong winds and it was howling and banging outside and kept waking me up. When I got up the next morning Angela told me that she'd been out earlier putting plastic back over the blocks as the wind was so strong it had blown the tyres off the top of the pile! I got the trolley and shifted them in really quickly. Angela and Rosie had fun playing with some magnetic toys and then the sun came out so Rosie and I went to feed the chickens then did another load of clearing down by the gate. While we were working on that Angela was clearing in the Glass room and preparing a load of plants for winter so then Rosie and I helped by carrying them up to the lounge. It is great to see that room looking so awesome now. In the afternoon Angela and Rosie did stickers on the windows and doors in the lounge and now we really are ready for Christmas. There was time in the evening just before bath time for Rosie to have fun with a sparkler.

Taking the shrink wrap off the final panel

We needed to remove insulation to access the beams

Cold damp and wet on the roof

Not an ideal day for roof work

The securing metal strap in place

Such a beautiful view up here

Bekir takes the pipes upstairs

And so to today which started off foggy and cold and stayed that way for almost the entire day. I suggested to the men that they stay inside because of the weather but they decided to work on getting the second frame put in place just to get this phase of the solar boilers complete at least. Halil removed some of the plaster board and insulation from the place they'd need to access to fit this frame and then Bekir went onto the roof and set to work. It was a much quicker process, as expected, and they managed to get the frame and the final panel in place during today. I didn't get a picture of the panel yet unfortunately as I was busy. The weather cleared briefly during the day which was nice while it lasted but it didn't last long. At the end of the day the men went to pick up some water pipes so they can run these out to the roof, but just cap them inside and out and not attach them to anything, so we can then put plasterboard and insulation and plaster everything inside. I don't know when we'll finally get these boilers fitted due to waiting for some special valves (which I have now ordered) and also the weather not being ideal for working on the roof.

My pizza from this evening

This evening Rosie asked to go out for our dinner so we went and had a lovely time and some good food too.

So there it is; thanks for reading and back tomorrow.

Weekend and Monday

I've got a few days to update you on today, and then there'll be a pause in updates as the men are having a few days off.

Bed disassembled to get to Xena vomit

Checking out the new flower bed

The plastic fence did not work in the end

Angela proud of her new flower bed

The glass room is nice and clear

Rosie having a rest after a busy morning

Xena on her way to the vet

The tree frog, back in the tree

Me and Rosie about to camp out

Saturday early morning I was woken by Xena being sick on the bed; she then proceeded to be sick in the lounge and then, twice, under the bed. I had to take everything apart to clean it up. That made up our mind that she should go to the vet on Saturday. It was a busy start to Saturday with lots of stuff done in the garden before it got too hot. I helped Angela with breaking up the soil for her new flower bed and then Rosie helped her plant some lovely flowers while I went and cleared out the glass room and gardening room that were a total mess. Rosie helped a lot in this task as well. Such a satisfying thing to get things done like that. Afterwards she had a little rest on the swinging chair. We then headed to the vet with Xena who had some blood taken, two injections and some pills were prescribed as she has a tummy infection. Poor little thing. We had time for swimming in the pool (and the tree frog was visiting again) before a call with Grandma and Auntie Nods and then another pool time with the grandson from next door. Finally I pitched the tent in the back garden and Rosie and I camped out again. It was great fun. A really busy day but very much fun.

Rosie and Angela doing more planting

Almost ready for eating

Angela and Rosie in the pool

Pumping water out so we can repair a tear

Sunday was another busy day, but more so for Angela, as Rosie and her did some more gardening before heading off for the big shop. The garden really is coming on well and the tomatoes in particular are very close to ready. When they got back we had a lovely time together in the pool and then later on the grandson for next door came over and so I got back in with Rosie again. When that was done we started to pump some water out so we can repair the slight hole that was seeping water a little bit. It hadn't quite reached the level we needed by the time I went to bed so I turned the pump off for the night.

Bekir starting on the column

Finishing off the base of the fence

All the cement work done

Taking the shuttering off

A small fire to clear some rubbish

Tomatoes for my lunch

Nicely mowed back bank

And so we reach today. I took Rosie to school this morning, having started the pump again, and when I got back the water was at the correct level. I fixed the patches in place then started the hoses to filling again but our water pressure is very low so it hasn't filled very much as of yet. The men were in and said that today was their only day working this week which is fine; they finished off the cement work, including putting the pillar up for the gate and then they did a load of clearing and tidying up. I had a lovely cheese and tomato sandwich at lunch with tomatoes fresh off the vine - superb, then got Mo out and cut the grass on the top bank.

Rosie off to have fun in the playground

Baby birds in their nest

After school today I took Rosie to our favourite restaurant for food and play and she had a great time; it really was very hot and she was very good about coming into the shade, wearing her hat and drinking lots of fluids. Where we were sat there was a nest full of baby swallows which fascinated her indeed.

And there you have it; there'll be somewhat of a pause now as the men are not back until next Monday. Thanks for reading.